Windsor Christmas Parade

The annual Windsor Christmas Parade, put on by the Windsor/ Bertie County Chamber of Commerce, will take place on Thursday December 8, 2005, beginning at 3:30 PM.

Bill Hazelgrove, Former Windsor/ Bertie County Chamber of Commerce Director, will be the Grand Marshall for the 2005 Windsor Christmas Parade.

Bill Hazelgrove has dedicated himself to our community for many years now and he was the recipient of the 2005 Citizen of the Year Award.

The Parade line-up will begin at the Bertie Campus of Martin Community College. It will move on a route down Granville Street to King Street, and then going right on King Street past the reviewing stand in front of the courthouse. Afterwards, the parade will go left on Dundee Street to Livermon Park, where it will end.


If you have an organization, consider placing a float in this year’s parade. You will be in good company and you can get the kind of national publicity obtained for floats like this one! But you need to hurry. If you plan to have an entry in the Parade you must get them in by December 5, 2005, which is next Monday.

A Typical Parade Float!

Parade entry applications can be picked up at the License Plate Agency and the Windsor/ Bertie Chamber of Commerce. Deadline for parade entries is December 5, 2005. For more information please call (252) 794-4277.

FoR ENC Promotes Inner Banks Area

Yesterday's program for this week's Windsor Rotary meeting was brought by Ned Heckstall, our Rotary Vice President. It was a great program. Ned had presuaded Jim Blount of FoR ENC to come explain their plans for the Inner Banks area.

Ned Heckstall Introduces The Program

Jim Blount, Vice President for the organization, presented their program in very persuasive manner, including a 15 minute video presentation that shows some of the companies they have already helped in our area.

Jim Blount, Vice President Of FoR ENC

For ENC is an interesting organization. They are the group that is promoting the new "Inner Banks" name for our area and they have trade marked the IBX logo to help with that promotion.

Jim Blount Brought A Very Professional Video To Explain The FoR ENC Program

Their literature explains their mission for our area; "Eastern North Carolina is fundamentally different from the rest of North Carolina. A number of scholarly studies and economic reports verify the disturbing facts, namely, that Eastern North Carolina, historically tied to the fortunes of agriculture and manufacturing, is now in a terrible economic state. The declining tobacco industry and the waning of the region’s manufacturing base as a result of international trade agreements such as NAFTA create a situation that is truly dire. Natural disasters—such as Hurricanes Dennis, Floyd and Isabel—occur all too frequently in the East and place new pressures on an already over-burdened system.

The Foundation of Renewal for Eastern North Carolina (FoR ENC) is a private non-profit corporation designed to serve as a catalyst for economic and entrepreneurial growth in Eastern North Carolina. FoR ENC inspires entrepreneurship by linking intellectual and financial capital to stimulate economic growth so as to offset the region’s entrenched dependence upon manufacturing and agriculture. This broad process of economic renewal includes identifying, developing, and energizing citizens and organizations across Eastern North Carolina to build a leadership base for the future of the region."

The FoR ENC Video Described Some Of The Changing Attitudes About Growth For The Inner Banks

One of the groups that they have been assisting is the group promoting the new Sandy Point Development near Edenton, funded in part by the very successful H. Wayne Huizenga. Check out their web site for some of the exciting plans for growth in our area, growth that will bring jobs we sorely need.

The FoR ENC plans for our area are truly exciting.

Bob Fringer, Governor's Award Winner

Bob Fringer of Colerain received this years Governor's Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service for Bertie County at the Interagency Involvement Council luncheon yesterday.

Bob Fringer, Jinny Fringer, (far side of table) Brenda Hoggard, Nancy Adams And Joe Bass

Joe Bass, Joblink Manager for the Choanoke Area Development Association, presided at the luncheon. All agencies present gave an update on their coming events and activities to start the meeting. At that point, Joe introduced Irma Robbins, Outreach Coordinator of the Bertie County Council on Aging, for the special presentations.

Tra Perry Introduces Bob Fringer, And Tells A Few Stories On Bob

The first presentation was made by Tra Perry of UHS Hospice. Tra had nominated Bob Fringer for the primary award for which he was being honored, the Governor's Award. However Tra had a surprise in her opening remarks. In addition to the Governor's award, Bob was honored by the Hospice organization as well, and that was the first presentation of the day.

Tra Perry Presents Bob Fringer With Hospice Award

Irma Robbins then announced the second award, given to the outstanding volunteer for Bertie County. Bob Fringer was the winner of this award as well.

Irma Robbins Presents Bob With Bertie County Award

In what seemed almost deja vu, the final award presented was the one everyone had expected, honoring Bob Fringer as Governor's Award Winner for our area.

Irma Robbins Presents Bob Fringer With Governors Award

Bob Fringer truly is representative of the great number of people who work so hard to help those in need in our area. Bob gave a very gracious speech, and he made the point that he was accepting this award on behalf of all of the volunteers who do so much. With Bob we wish to extend our thanks to them all.

Luncheon After The Meeting

Julie’s Redemption - By Bob Fringer

Story By Bob Fringer

Have you ever been in a situation where you would rather be somewhere else? Well, that’s the kind of situation that I think Julie Perry found herself in when she, her husband, father-in-law, and about ten other male companions went swan hunting last February.

Bundled in bulky, insulated hunting garments and squeezed into a pair of white coveralls, Julie looked like the proverbial Pillsbury doughboy. To add to her problems, she was trying to use a shotgun with a stock much too long for her small frame. Compounding her dilemma, she was shooting in-coming swans while lying on her back in the middle of a corn field. She was game, however, and continued to shoot that clumsy gun even after her hunting companions had harvested their birds. Needless to say, each shot missed by Julie brought a barrage of helpful (?) suggestions and advice. After borrowing some additional shells from Burch, her husband, Julie finally succeeded in bringing down one of those big birds, to a loud chorus of cheers from her audience. It had been a hard hunt for Julie but she persevered.

Several months later, Julie had regained her confidence and was ready to embark on another hunting adventure. This time her quarry was the wily wild turkey, a bird well known for its incredible ability to see and hear like no other creature in the woods.

Prior to the turkey season, Warner Perry, Julie’s father-in-law, and I began pre-hunt scouting to check some of our favorite hunting locations. Early one morning I heard a gobbler in an area where we had successfully hunted birds the previous year. That old bird gobbled and gobbled for the longest time. I had found a hot turkey and I couldn’t wait for hunting to begin!

On the first day of the season we all met in Colerain and broke up into two separate hunting parties. Warner planned to take Julie’s father and Fred Browne with him while Julie, Burch and I were to hunt together. We quickly went our separate ways with Warner going over to a favorite spot on one of his farms and the three of us headed to my “honey hole.”

During the drive to our hunting location I tried to brief Julie on a few do’s and don’ts to consider if she was lucky enough to shoot at a turkey. I suggested that she should remember to move her gun slowly, aim directly down the top of the gun barrel and to shoot the turkey at the base of its neck. I encouraged Burch to take my gun even though he just wanted to be an observer and didn’t intend to shoot a turkey.

A gobbler broke the silence of the early dawn as we were walking to our hunting spot. I was pleased to hear that old bird break forth with his lusty call. At least Julie would hear a turkey and feel that she was in the hunt! That old bird kept up a continuous stream of gobbles as we quickly set out our decoys and selected our positions. Julie and Burch sat down side-by-side while I picked a spot about 15 yards to their left. A wooded wet area was to our backs and we faced an old cornfield, which sloped up to a dirt road.

Shortly after the darkness of night surrendered to the early morning glow of daylight, a hen turkey emerged at the far end of the field, walked down the road and disappeared over the rise of the hill. The gobbler kept up his incessant calling. Sometimes it seemed as though I could hear several birds gobbling, but I couldn’t be sure. Each yelp on my diaphragm call was greeted with an instant response from that old, lusty, long beard.

After about 15 minutes, all gobbling stopped. That old bird had made up his mind to do something other than just stand there and gobble. He was going to either come to the field or walk right away from us. We waited in silence.

All of a sudden, a gobbler walked out into the field, followed by two others! What a surprise! They were in the field about five yards when three more males appeared. Now there were six gobblers about 100 yards to our right. I was expecting one bird!

The first three birds barely paid any attention to the decoys. They simply slowly walked up toward the dirt road and disappeared over the rise. The other three birds appeared to be headed in the same direction until I made a soft purr on my homemade turkey call. The birds immediately turned and started toward the decoys. They looked indecisive but continued to slowly work their way to us. Finally, one male left the other two and zeroed in on the decoys. He had fallen in love with those plastic decoys! He really put on a show for us. He strutted, puffed up his feathers, drummed, and pirouetted. It was a beautiful display.

The blast from Julie’s gun broke the stillness of the day. The gobbler reeled backward from the impact of the shot and fell over dead. The other two birds ran up the hill and disappeared from sight.

Burch jumped up and raced to the bird to make certain it wasn’t going to escape. There was no need to worry about that old bird going any place because Julie had put that old gobbler to rest for good! She had redeemed herself by that fine shot! It couldn’t get any better than that. Julie had done everything right.

As we drove back to Colerain, Burch explained that he could have shot one of the other turkeys when he ran up the hill to Julie’s bird. The other two males were standing beside the dirt road. However, he was pleased with Julie’s gobbler and didn’t want to shoot another bird.

After we proudly displayed the beautiful gobbler to every one in Colerain, we proceeded to measure him. He weighed almost 20 pounds and had a 10 1/14 inch beard and spurs 1 3/16 inches long. He was a prize specimen!

It had been a great day, full of anticipation, surprises, suspense and accomplishment. Julie had carried out her part of the hunt. I know her father, Burch and Warner were very proud of her success. I will always remember that day as “the day of Julie’s redemption.”

Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage

The program for Rotary this week was on the important new Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage.

Cynthia Davis of the Mid East Commission, Area Agency on Aging, brought a number of handouts to explain various aspects of the new Medicare program. For those who are eligible, it is important that they understand the many options, and learn how to select the options that will best help them. At this point there are 16 different providers offering 38 different programs. There is also a penalty issue that must be addressed and seniors have a short time to make sure that if they need the program that they don't wait too long. You must enroll before next May to avoid the penalty, and that means seniors need to start their investigation now.

Cynthia Davis

David Davis, District Manager for the Social Security Administration made a presentation on how his organization can help those who are investigating the new program. They have a full time person who is available to help seniors understand the program, and make the best decisions. It is likely that as it gets closer to the deadline, that it will be harder to schedule time and assistance, so seniors need to call now.

David Davis

Both Cynthia and David are here to help the people of Bertie County.

Cynthia can be reached at (252) 974-1835.

David can be reached at (252) 332-3414 Ext 100.

Chicken On The Cashie

The Windsor / Bertie County Chamber of Commerce held the 15th Annual Chicken on the Cashie yesterday. This was a rescheduled date due to Hurricane Ophelia. Though overcast, the weather was rather nice for this time of year.The sponsoring organizations were the Bertie County Fire Departments including, Windsor, Colerain, Perrytown, Blue Jay, Askewville, Merry Hill and Trap.

Golfers Line Up For The "Chicken On The Cashie" Golf Tournament To Start

The Golf Tournatment kicked off the event and had a great turnout. Due to the reschedule, all tee times were at 1:00 PM, and the shotgun start was rather hectic with 16 teams. Perdue chicken was served for all golfers.

Williford Cleaners Team Member Dalton Williams Tees Off As David Bunch Can't Wait For His Turn

The winner of the "Gross Score" Contest was the team from Cars "R" Us, with a score of 58.

Bill Crutchfield, Mike Spear, Non Team Member Carolyn Jordan, James Cutrell and James Ellis, Savor Their "Gross Score" Victory

The winner of the "Net Score" contest was Perdue #1, with a score of 49 after adjustment for their handicaps.

Jim Young, Doug Jordan, Richard Speare, And L. T. Sullivan, "Net Score" Winners

This Year's Trophies were very unique.

The First Place Trophies

Evening activities started at 5:00 PM.

It Is Early But The Perdue Chicken Is Going Fast

Early arrivals were entertained by Michael Campbell from 102.5, "The Shark" radio while waiting for the live music to start.

Michael Campbell Entertains With Rocking Music

You could eat all you wanted of Perdue Chicken, prepared in a variety of ways, while you visited with friends and danced the night away. Music for the dancing was provided by two live bands, "The Embers" and "Backdraft".

Backdraft Starts The Live Music

Below are some of the fire departments serving their flavor of Perdue Chicken.

Members Of The Colerain Fire Department

Members Of The Windsor Fire Department Auxiliary

Members Of The Blue Jay Fire Department From Indian Woods

Members Of The Askewville Fire Department

In this article from the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald you can get a complete listing of what each of the fire departments prepared and served. Patrick Demofonte, Director of the Chamber of Commerce was rushing all day to take care of details for the event.

Patrick Demofonte Was Everywhere

Fun Inflatables from Classic Rentals in Ahoskie were provided for the kids.

The Kid's Area At Chicken On The Cashie

The famous "Chicken on the Cashie" T-shirts have become world famous, and have been sighted on beaches from Santa Monica California to Venice Italy. They were on sale and you had a choice of several colors.

Chamber Director Patrick Demofonte Models New T-Shirts

It was a great event. Hope you enjoyed it.

Bob Fringer Receives Governor's Award

Bob Fringer of Colerain will receive this years Governor's Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service for Bertie County. Bob was nominated by Tra Perry of UHS Hospice, one organization for which Bob does volunteer service.

Bob And Jinny Fringer

Some of the comments in Bob's nomination say much about why he earned the award.

"Bob Fringer is a dedicated Hospice Volunteer who willingly and compassionately serves patients and their families in Bertie, Hertford and Chowan counties. His warm compassionate personality exemplifies the qualities needed to meet patient needs. He cares for all of his patients and their families with the same empathy and love regardless of their situation or condition. He is creative in identifying needs that would enrich the lives of his patients. For instance, he realized that one patient enjoyed Western stories. Bob bought a tape player and several Western books on tapes so that his patient could enjoy them. When members of the community realized how much these had meant, donations were made to hospice to purchase such items. We now have a nice collection for our patients to enjoy. "

"Bob Fringer is a man committed and dedicated to making the world a brighter, better place. He is outstanding as a hospice volunteer in that he always takes a patient even when it means sacrificing some of his personal plans to do so. He is dependable in making himself available to his patients and tries hard to meet their needs. He is a shinning example of a hospice vounteer—caring, compassionate, adaptable and so very willing to go the extra mile in serving his fellow man."

Congratulations to Bob, and our thanks for his tremendous service to our community.

Bob will be recognized for his contributions to Bertie County at the Interagency Council next Wednesday, October 19th at 12:00 PM at the Carolina House Restaurant in Windsor.

New Hospice Volunteers!

Training Starts For New Hospice Volunteers

If you are looking for something worthwhile and fulfilling to do and if you like to interact with people of all ages and if you want to contribute in ways the paying world just can’t match, then hospice has just the volunteering opportunity for you.

UHS Hospice is offering a free training course for new volunteers. There will be three sessions offered at the Hospice House; 521 West Myers Street, Ahoskie, NC

Tues., Oct. 25, 1:00-5:00
Tues. Nov. 1, 1:00-5:00
Tues., Nov. 8, 1:00-5:00

Please call to register (252) 332-3392.

You will never regret it!

3rd Annual Craft Bazaar - 11/5

Sandy Run Baptist Church of Roxobel, NC Announces its 3rd Annual Craft Bazaar will be held Saturday, November 5, 2005 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The location will be Church Street, Roxobel (one block east of 308 at the blinking light in Roxobel). Featuring Country Store of Fall and Christmas Crafts. There will be a Silent Auction,
Sweet Shoppe and Calendars for sale. Other specialties include Jewelry, Floral Designs, Personalized Children’s Books, Candles, Classy Cooking, Baskets and More!

Games for children will allow parents to make this a family day.

The Turkey dinner sales start at 11:00 AM and will be $7.00

Call Dave Rimel, Pastor –344-3266—for more information

Lack Of Action Upsets Harrell

By Cal Bryant - October 4, 2005 - Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald

Rick Harrell is upset.

The chairman of the Bertie County Board of Commissioners let that be clearly known here Monday where the county's leaders gathered for their scheduled first-of-the-month meeting.

At last month's meeting, Harrell demanded that a representative of the Bertie Board of Education be included on yesterday's agenda. He said he wanted answers to why repeated efforts made by the commissioners to secure financial documents from Bertie County Public Schools (BCPS) have yet to fulfilled.

The attitude of the Bertie County Board of Education, and the new BCPS Superintendent Dr. Nettie Collins-Hart cerrtainly indicates no great desire to cooperate with the Bertie County Board of Commissioners. What they are trying to accomplish is not clear. Both boards represent the people of Bertie County, and there would be some expectation that they should work together.

The continuing actions do not indicate that is the case. Since Dr. Nettie Collins-Hart, the new Superintendent has asked for time at the next County Commissioners meeting, there may be something more to report at that time.

Stay tuned!

Paper Cuts

BY Edward Wasserman - October 3, 2005 - Miami Herald

A thick cloud has settled over the U.S. newspaper business. Journalism students back from their summer internships no longer speak glowingly about the intoxicating thrill of a city room on deadline. Instead the newsroom veterans told them to go to law school.

This is another article among many that are appearing which recognizes the damage done to the newpaper business by the Internet and the dramatically changing climate for all forms of communication in our modern world.

All of the damage has not been wrought by bloggers, but they have certainly been a significant group to make an impression on newspapers. Bloggers have broken the back of the illusion that the MSM is unbiased. Many technical changes are also impacting the revenue base of newspapers. These are driven by the increasingly sophisticated search engine capabilities of the Internet.

Thus job ads, coupon ads, sale announcements, car ads and sale of small personal items are moving agressively to the Internet. This cuts the conventional ad revenue base for newspapers significantly. If you are a newspaper reader, or employee, get ready for massive changes in the way newspapers look and are distributed in the very near future. Unless something changes, most newspapers will be out of business, or be in a completely different business, very soon.

Arts Council Show - Friday, October 7th

The Bertie County Arts Council has two very important events happening on Friday, October 7.

Ramona Bragg, featured Artist of the Month, will have her opening show.

Ken Attkisson will have his annual jewelry sale.

The hours for the opening and the show are 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM at the Arts Center located at 124 South King Street in Windsor.